Circles
by Flamelyte
Summary: It's funny when thoughts go in circles, and it's even better when those circles lead you in a straight line to what you've always wanted. AxM


This is short, sweet, and cute. Just a spur of the moment fic I decided to write. (Though pretty much all of my fics are spur of the moment…Eheh. ;; )

Now, on with the story!

She blinked.

That did not just happen.

Out of all the strange things in the world that could happen, you know, like pigs flying, the sky falling, hell freezing over…Well, something rarer than any of those just did happen. Though she supposed this was now less rare, seeing as pigs still don't fly, the sky still hadn't fallen, and hell is still supposedly a pretty hot place….

But this was still more unexpected than any of them.

She blinked again, and pushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. Here she was, standing out in a light spring shower. Here she was, standing out stupidly in a light spring shower. Here she was, stupidly getting drenched and slightly cold by a spring shower. And here she was, watching something rarer than hell freezing over.

And here she was, freezing.

Aren't thoughts that go in circles fun?

Misao Makimachi did not think so.

Circles were supposed to go in circles, obviously. Jiya was supposed to talk in circles, especially when he said his main point first with hesitation, ranted various things related to it, and then finally got back to the main point.

When you stirred soup in a pot, you stirred with a circular motion.

Her kunai spun in circles if she threw them in a certain way.

But no, thoughts were not supposed to go in circles. All they did was waste time and take you away from your main point. Just like this thought did concerning circles…

She scowled at this.

Round and round a thought about circles went, and was gone. And now she has decided to get off the topic of circles.

She always liked triangles better. They were pointy, like kunai.

But either way, she didn't understand how what she was watching could have happened. Of course it had happened when he didn't think she was watching. Of course he had to hide it from her. Of course the godamned man, who she brought tea to everyday, wouldn't show her first. He just had to do it to nothing instead.

In a thunderstorm. While getting drenched. But wearing a trenchcoat, while she was not, so he wasn't cold like her.

She vaguely considered the fact that she was a fool.

She vaguely decided to deny to herself that she was one. She was just a caring Okashira.

Heh. Sure. She was having a hard time convincing herself that was the only reason.

But either way, it didn't matter. No one had to know she was having a mental conversation with herself.

The teasing would be endless.

She found she still was a child in the eyes of Okon, Omasu, Shiro, and Okina.

In his eyes, well…no one really knew how he saw anyone. Well, except for himself. It was obvious about what he thought of himself.

Aoshi Shinomori thought about himself as a failure.

Misao found it very sad. Because he could never be a failure to her. Her friends were dead, but it was Beshimi's, Hyottoko's, Shikijou's, and Hannya's jobs to protect their leader.

Their leader as well as their friend.

And him pitying himself and hurting himself over their deaths made their deaths in vain.

This is something that she also found very sad.

They had died to protect him. He had lead them to death. He knew the risks in working for Kanryuu, and though she did not know it for fact, her heart told her that Aoshi had not cared how much he provoked the drug lord. And they all had paid the price.

He has been able to know the four of them for the eight years they were gone. Aoshi had had the chance to say goodbye.

But as true as truth is, she never got to see the friends she'd known so well and loved so much again.

She never got the chance to say goodbye to their faces.

But as Okashira of the Oniwabanshuu, and now having been so for two years, she had resources. And because of these resources, she had found their graves. The simple way of going about it would have been to ask Aoshi, and she had done so.

But he had ignored her request, and so she had found her friends on her own so she could say goodbye.

And she had planted flowers that spring day that she had visited. Any ones that might have been there at some point had died off, though she had a feeling there never were any there in the first place.

And she had returned back to the Aoiya, content now with the fact that they were dead and she'd said her peace.

Aoshi had visited their graves shortly after. And upon returning to the Aoiya, did not speak to her or acknowledge her for days.

And now she considered if these thoughts were a circle. But no, they were not, as them dying and her going to their graves and then Aoshi standing out here in the rain with her watching went in a straight line through a part of her life.

It was the strangest thing.

What was Aoshi doing? Well, for once she was the one with a blank, expressionless look on her face.

As to what happened that stunned her so much, well…

…Aoshi Shinomori was smiling.

And he was smiling at her now, having somewhere within the time span of Misao's thoughts turned and faced her.

Her heart stopped beating, and she knew that her staring at him must have made her look like a fool.

And because she probably looked like a fool, and was a fool, she'd play her role and act like one.

She spun around in circles, making her way towards him, and ignoring the mud the splashed up around her. And though she spun in circles, her path was in a straight line to get to him.

When she did finally reach him, she jumped up and threw her arms around his neck. A laugh escaped her lips as she looked at his face. "I told you I'd get you to smile."

His eyes closed, a small smile playing across his lips, and he overall looked very peaceful in that moment. "So you did, Misao…So you did."

Aren't circles fun? Especially ones that end up leading you straight to Aoshi.

Please review! Reviews 3. Because if I don't have reviews, then I think people don't enjoy my writing, and why write and post stories if people don't enjoy them?

P


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